Greek soccer HQ evacuated after bomb threat

ATHENS (Reuters) - The headquarters of the Greek soccer federation in the Athens suburb of Goudi were evacuated on Wednesday after an anonymous caller said a bomb had been planted in the building.

Bomb disposal experts were called in to search the offices of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) after the newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton received a call saying a bomb would go off at 1 p.m. (1100 GMT).

Local media reported that the police waited until 3 p.m. before sending in the team, but in the end no bomb was found.

On Tuesday, a bomb exploded outside the offices of the Greek business federation (SEV) in central Athens, causing no injuries but damaging the nearby Cypriot Embassy.

Tensions have being running high among Athens' soccer fans since last Saturday’s derby match between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Piraeus was called off by the referee before the start because of violence in and around the stadium.

Clashes between fans and police followed, which Panathinaikos blamed on the referee's decision.

Since the weekend, another Athens club, AEK, has accused EPO of not doing enough to prevent crowd violence.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)